I have been playing Overwatch since its initial release in 2016 and I reckon it’s high time that I retire this once-beloved first-person shooter (FPS). After over 1,000 hours, I’m done. I have had a complicated relationship with Overwatch 2 for the past year and a half; I enjoy the constant updates and new heroes, but the shop prices are out of control, ranked matches are bugged, and the constant rebalancing and reworking of heroes takes away from what was once the most unique FPS game on the market. Not to mention the continued broken promise of PvE, the hateful players, weak moderation, and the small pool of maps.
The beauty of Overwatch was that you paid $30 and had access to all heroes, features, and skins. You earned loot boxes each time you leveled up, so you did not have to shell out $20 for a singular skin. Overwatch 2 killed the original Overwatch, implementing a Battle Pass that provides seasonal awards for $10. Originally, I was excited to have a reason to play, grinding out matches for hours every single day to obtain all of the skins, emotes, sprays, and voice lines, but that appeal has since died. If you did not purchase the Battle Pass, you did not have immediate access to the new heroes, and after the severe content drought of the original Overwatch, I was excited to play as Junker Queen, Kiriko, and Sojourn.
I religiously played seasons 1 through 8, and I estimate that I have spent over $500 on new skins and premium Battle Passes. Adding up this number made me feel sick to my stomach, proving to me that Blizzard does not care about the original Overwatch players and continually refuses to listen to us. The limited-time nature of the skins goads players into spending $20 or more on a single skin. I have fallen victim to the supposed exclusivity of these skins. In hindsight, it is a ridiculous price. Other FPS games have similar cosmetic shops, but the quality of the skins is far superior, and the price point is much lower. Overwatch 2 will release a recolored version of an old skin from Overwatch and expect you to pay an egregious amount of money for it.
Ranked matches are incredibly frustrating. At launch, no matter how many times you won as a Support hero, you were stuck in Bronze 5 hell. This carried over to other seasons and was not fixed when I stopped playing late last year. In the first few minutes of a match, you can easily tell if you will win or lose. There is such a disparity in matchmaking that I, a Bronze 5 Support, have battled against Gold 1 Damage players. It’s disheartening at best, and infuriating at worst. However, in the Open Queue, I was able to rise ranks and hit Gold.
When it comes to balancing and reworking heroes, I understand that this is necessary for the health of the game. Yet, it seems Overwatch 2 panders towards a few pro players and ignores the pleas of the majority casual fanbase. Widowmaker, the sniper, has been nerfed (weakened) to the extreme. I loved finding a space to hide and sniping the enemy team, but headshots are now worthless. Her health has been decreased far too much, to the point that any enemy hero, even Mercy, can easily take Widowmaker out. The biggest disappointment has been the massive reworks of beloved, original characters such as Cassidy. His kit has been tweaked and changed far too many times. Mercy’s “big res” (an ultimate ability that allowed Mercy to revive all of the fallen teammates around her) was one of the best parts of her kit, and now her Ultimate ability feels almost useless. Sombra’s rework is overpowered and annoying, as it makes her invisible almost all of the time. The throwable translocator is great for survivability, but the beauty of hiding one and returning to it when ready has been tarnished.
Finally, we were promised PvE content for years, and when it finally came, it was a massive letdown. For $15, which I spent, you gain permanent access to three story-based missions. I easily completed these missions in under an hour; afterward, I felt empty. The missions were fairly boring, and they rely on match making with other active players. In a year, who is going to want to play these missions? Permanent access does not equate to player interest.
I’m done with Overwatch 2. I do not see the point in investing hours of my time into a video game that isn’t enjoyable to play. The Battle Pass feels like a chore, and no matter how much I adore the new heroes added, I have other games I would much rather play. Dare I say it, Fortnite is far more enjoyable and rewarding than Overwatch 2.
